LONDON (Reuters) - British novelist Kazuo Ishiguro said on Thursday it was amazing and totally unexpected that he had won the Nobel Prize for Literature, adding he hoped the win would support the “forces for good” in the world.

Author Kazuo Ishiguro speaks to the media outside his home, following the announcement that he has won the Nobel Prize for Literature, in London, Britain October 5, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville

Ishiguro, 62, who was born in Japan and raised in Britain, said that he initially thought reports of his victory were a hoax.

“This is amazing and totally unexpected news for me,” he told reporters at his house in north London.

“It comes at a time when the world is uncertain about its values, its leadership and its safety. I just hope that my receiving this huge honor will, even in a small way, encourage the forces for good.”